DE Thad Gibson - Projects more to LB in the NFL. Could be an Orakpo type that plays SAM and then rushes on 3rd down. Good athlete.

DE Cam Heyward - Big guy has started at DT and DE. Huge ceiling, but is inconsistent.

DT Doug Worthington - The Eagles always like adding DL. Could be a mid to late round guy to add to the mix.

S Kurt Coleman - Good player. Should definitely be of interest. Not a great athlete, but makes his share of plays because he's smart and experienced. Could definitely play SS for us and maybe FS. Had 5 picks this year, 9 for his career.

-Oregon-

RB LeGarrette Blount - Andy Reid is interested by big RBs. Blount will be a mid to late round guy because of his issues.

DE Will Tukuafu - Not a gifted pass rusher, but has good size at 6'4, 272.

S T.J. Ward - Outstanding player. Could go in the top 50, putting him out of our range. _________________________

-Cincinnati-

LT Jeff Linkenbach - I don't think he's our kind of LT, but could be someone to add as a G or RT prospect. Pretty good size at 6'6, 311.

S Aaron Webster - Mid to late round guy. Has SS size, but shows good centerfielder ability. Picked off 4 passes and broke up 5 others. Good hitter. Big question is how athletic he is.

19 comments:

I'm upset you didn't give the Hokies any love yesterday. Well, on second thought, most of their impact players are underclassmen, so I can't really call them pro-prospects just yet.

Safety Kam Chancellor is the only Hokie I really see as a legit draft prospect. He lacks ideal speed, but has a nose for the ball. I guess you'd say he has a nose for the ball. Would project to SS in the NFL.

OLB Cody Grimm is the media-darling on game day. He's too small and too slow for the NFL, but he's always - always - around the ball. I'm sure he'll get a shot somewhere, if only because of his family tree, but I can't see him being anything more than a UFA.

Of course, RB Ryan Williams is a red shit freshman. He could declare for the draft, but that'd be crazy early. Another monster season or two at Tech and he'd be a really high draft pick. But you never know. Not only does a player have to consider injury potential, but the CBA mess that might bring a rookie pay scale. Oh, the problems these kids have.

Oh, I thought it was just 2 years removed from high school, not in college. Now that I think of it, that's what the whole Maurivr Clarett thing was about, huh?

I forgot about Sergio, but I absolutely refuse to believe Ed Wang will be drafted. I give himcredit for moving from TE to tackle to the other side at tackle. But he's been so inconsistent over the years. As a fan, it was frustrating.

I was just about to post how much I like the idea of drafting Blount anywhere after the 3rd round, so of course he has a huge fumble that results in a big turnover.

Tommy, do you like Prior (not as a future Eagle, just as a general prospect)? I watch him and I think every long pass he throws looks like a duck. But it usually ends up on target. Are my eyes deceiving me?

Hey Tommy, in the past decade or so how have the Eagles done with drafting players viewed as inconsistent coming out of College? Carlos Dunlap has the potential to be exactly what we need at LDE but i'd hate to draft a player that high who can't be relied upon.

Does anyone recall that car commercial from last year where the car remained stationary but the backdrop kept changing? I think they rolled out a street to make it change from the countryside to a city scene? I think it was an SUV...

Anyway, I half-need it for work and thought since it ran a lot during games that someone might recall...

Tommy, I am watching this Sugar Bowl and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the performances of Carlos Dunlap and Brandon Spikes.

Dunlap looks like a pass-rushing beast, but maybe that's just the inadequacy of the Cincci offensive line.

Spikes looks like a quick player with natural instincts and quite a bit of power. Don't know if he'll be anything amazing at the pro level, but could be a very solid LB. Even thought Bradley will come back next year, don't you think it might be good for the Eagles to pick up a LB in the draft and strengthen that crucial area? Especially if they can pick one up that falls into the 2nd round?

The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see the Eagles draft Tebow.

Vick will be gone and we'll need another QB anyway. Tebow would be a great developmental guy to stash at the bottom of the depth chart and bring out in goalline packages and short yardage situations, much like we use Vick now.

The question, I guess, would be where Tebow is projected to go in the draft. He's a mystery at this point. I think he could go in any round. Reid has done some crazier things in the draft the past several years; it wouldn't really surprise me if we picked Tebow "early."

Not only do I think he will be a bust at the NFL level, but I don't want the distractions his type of personality will bring to the program.

His character simply does not fit the Eagles character, either. The "holier than thou" white knight type of player is really not in line with what the Eagles are right now: small, fast, dirty players with lots of attitude. I don't see a guy like Tebow on the same team with DeSean Jackson and Asante Sameuel.

Wait a second... are you questioning Tebow's character or his toughness? I'm not a huge fan of the Bible-thumping, but I'm not against it either.

Besides, Tebow would never be in a position to be a "bust" in the Eagles. He'd be a 3rd QB and short yardage guy. We've seen how valuable that is with Vick this season.

I just don't understand the hate for Tebow. We've all known people who have the same personality, and it is annoying in large doses, but Tebow is big, athletic, and wins. Last time I checked, that combo does well in the NFL.

Also, Tebow would have zero pressure to prove he can be a NFL quarterback with the Eagles. He wouldn't be the present or future QB. He could learn a lot from McNabb on how transition to being a pocket passer, too.

RE: Tebow = Vick: We didn't have to spend a draft pick on Vick, and that makes a big difference. My guess is Tebow goes somewhere between the late 2nd round and third and honestly, that's probably too high for anyone who wouldn't regularly see the field. I wouldn't spend anything more valuable than a 5th on a back-up / project type, and even then I'm not convinced Tebow would function in the same capacity as Vick currently does in our offense. There's also a bigger question as to whether the "Vick role" is actually a valuable addition to our team. I'm not convinced.

Plus - as you stated - he needs serious development work (much more than Kolb, who wasn't running 1/3 of the time) and may not have an NFL arm (a lot of his passes are more like "flings"). I'd rather use the pick to solidify our aging secondary, shore up our guard, fill a linebacking need, get a real big back (an actual RB)... basically anything but a project QB/FB whatever Tebow winds up being.

Unfortunately, great college players don't always translate to the NFL (paging Eric Crouch). I would be confused and concerned if we spent a draft pick on Tebow

I understand all that. I am by no means part of the Tebow hype machine. I just think he could be good value if taken in the right round.

I don't want to get in a thing where I'm defending Tebow because I have an intense hatred for the SEC and all it's players, but I just see this being an Andy Reid "WTF" pick if he's there at the end of the 3rd.

I guess I just don't see the value... unless he's available at our pick and we posture like we want him in order to drive up the trade value of the pick for a team that covets him. I really don't see how he would add an extra dimension to our team. A soft armed operator of an option offense doesn't quite fit what we do, in my opinion. You can argue the "leadership" angle but Chris Leak lead that team just fine, and I don't see how much leadership you need from a back-up, situational player in the NFL.

The Andy Reid WTF picks have been linemen taken before their value in late rounds, Kevin Kolb, and small school gambles... Reid hasn't been duped by the college star or project before. For him to take Tebow would be WTF squared, in my opinion.

RE: SEC hatred

Cliff, I'm not much of a college fan (my school sucked and will continue to suck) so I'm always confused by peoples' hatred for this conference and love for that conference... I heard people chanting S-E-C at the Sugar Bowl. Wouldn't that be like me saying "man, I hate the NFC North?" Does it stem from the crappy bowl system and lack of playoffs or something? Or is it more of a regional thing? i.e., Big Ten people feeling a midwestern connection to other Big Ten schools, etc.?